The Oscar-winning directors of the documentary NAZA, Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, face being stripped of their citizenship for treason, as Israeli politicians and military leaders seek to discredit the film without having seen it. Produced by the Guardian, NAZA examines the AI-powered targeting systems used by the Israel Defense Forces to bombard Gaza after Hamas’s attacks on 7 October 2023. The film features interviews with 24 anonymous insiders who reflect on their role in the military campaign.
Political backlash and threats against filmmakers
Israeli leaders have branded the film a “blood libel” and “fiction”. The documentary, named after the Israeli military acronym euphemistically used for “collateral damage”, has sparked a political firestorm. Far-right activists are making threats against the directors’ families, and there are concerns for their safety if they return to Israel. Israel’s domestic intelligence service may be involved in a leak investigation, according to reports.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 10 other press-freedom groups have warned that Israel must protect its journalists and filmmakers, not brand them traitors and paint targets on their backs. The groups’ warning comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has seized on the controversy to threaten anyone who “defames” Israeli soldiers with loss of citizenship.
Allegations from military insiders
The allegations in NAZA come from military insiders. For many, it does not appear to be remorse that drives them to speak out; some are proud of what they have done. One recalls the “insane fun” of planning airstrikes in Gaza. Crucially, Israeli soldiers describe the military accepting large numbers of Palestinian casualties as the price for killing a single Hamas operative. When civilian fatalities rise to as many as hundreds for one enemy combatant, proportionality looks less like a military assessment and more like a licence for mass death.
More than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in the campaign by Israel’s military. The film builds on revelations first published by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and the Guardian between 2023 and 2025.
Impact on democratic accountability
The Guardian’s editorial argues that a democracy that values life would at least investigate the film’s claims. Instead, Israel’s government, which says it is committed to democratic accountability, is attacking journalists. The film shows how bureaucratic distance and routine can turn extreme violence into ordinary work, featuring polite, educated members of Israel’s liberal middle class who built and operated a system that told them women and children would die in large numbers.
An election campaign has seen Israeli politicians weaponise controversy to outflank each other on the right. If leaders are saying that the conduct of the Israeli military is beyond independent review, that can hardly be consistent with the commitment to the rule of law. Rather than investigate alleged crimes, Netanyahu would punish those who expose them. Israel’s leaders ought to be protecting those who scrutinise power, not pointing a mob towards them.
